Black Herald
by Lia Bates
Summary: A Companion came a long way to find Vho, but now she's found, she's going to turn the Colegium on its ear. (COMPLETED)
1. chapter 1

Black Herald  
  
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Author's note: A story based on info from the White Gryphon. Hope you like it!  
  
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Prologue  
  
* Vho twined her curly black hair into a tight knot at the back of her neck, and shrugged into the loose red robe that was the best thing to wear in this heat.  
  
Her bare feet padded catlike along the corridor; it was time for another training session. Adept Shalamm was waiting in the workroom.  
  
"Vho," He spoke gravely, but his blue eyes sparkled incongruously in his dark skinned face. "You are reaching the end of your training. I do not think you will ever become an adept class mage, but you can access almost any ley-line; you can truthfully class yourself as a master mage."  
  
Vho was not disappointed; Adepts were few, and Master rank was higher than many. It was much higher than she would ever have dreamed in the years, long ago, when she was no more than an unimportant servant girl in the palace.  
  
"Soon you will be a successful truth-seer - "  
  
Shalamm was interrupted by shouts and calls. With Vho close behind, he hurried from the shielded workroom, and downstairs. In the light-soaked courtyard stood a horse, one of the rare creatures that only visitors to the Empire or the most important nobles ever owned.  
  
This one was more beautiful even than the horses that the Kaled'a'in K'Leshya visitors owned; a pure, dazzling white, with eyes like a cloudless sky, like an adept mage. It was wearing an elaborate, blue and silver saddle, and wore a bridle bedecked with silver bells.  
  
"Look at it in mage-sight," Shalamm advised her quietly. Vho blinked at the odd request, but obediently invoked it, and gasped.  
  
Standing before them was a guardian spirit, a being of pure power that pulsed in an aura of dazzling silver blue.  
  
"Are you a messenger of the Gods?" Shalamm's voice was slightly shaky.  
  
The horse looked at them with its strange, blue eyes. :Of a sort.:  
  
The voice echoed in the minds of all the assembled people. Many fell to their knees. Shalamm stepped forward; as the most powerful Adept in the temple-school, he acted as spokesman.  
  
"Why have you come to us, messenger of the Gods?" he asked, his voice steadying.  
  
:One among the students here is the one I seek.: The spirit-horse informed them. :I will take them far away, to a land in the north.:  
  
A murmur swept around the courtyard. Such a thing was unheard of - but who could contradict a messenger of the Gods? Shalamm stepped back.  
  
"Choose who you have come for, Great One." He said.  
  
The spirit-horse walked along the line of people gathered there, and stopped before Vho, gazing into her black eyes with his own blue ones.  
  
:You. I Choose you. You are the one I have come so far for, the one who is needed so far to the north. I Choose you.: Vho was filled with a giddy ecstasy, an outpouring of love from this spirit to her.  
  
"You choose her?" said Ihram in astonishment. "Her? But - she is the daughter of a servant. She's not even Adept potential!" Vho was shocked. The arrogant Ihram was the son of a noble family, and his Adept potential had made him even more self-important, but to challenge Edern's (How did she know his name, part of her wondered) Choice was unthinkable.  
  
Edern apparently felt the same. With a slight rear, he spun on his hindquarters and turned to face the suddenly cringing Ihram. :Do you doubt my Choice, boy?:  
  
Ihram shrank even farther into himself. "N-no, Great One," He stuttered. "I spoke in haste. I apologise."  
  
Edern nodded, and turned to face Shalamm. :Is this one able to come with me?: He asked. At Shalamm's aquiesance, he continued. :Is the temple able to equip her?: He enquired. :It will be a long journey.:  
  
Shallam nodded respectfully. "The temple can easily equip her, Great One," he said. "But I believe I can shorten your journey. The allies of the Haileigh Empire, the Kaled'a'in, are reputed to have outposts far in the north. Perhaps, to a being of your importance, they will make a Portal to one of these places. Then you would not have so far to travel."  
  
Edern nodded. :I have also heard of the Kaled'a'in. Your words are wise.: To Vho alone, he confided, :Wish I'd've thought of that before.: Vho blinked. The casual staement did not sound like what a Godly messenger would say.  
  
Shalamm beamed at Edern's praise. "I myself am an Adept," he continued. "I am able to send both you and Vho to the city of the Kaled'a'in, White Gryphon. From there you must journey on your own."  
  
*  
  
Author's Note: The rest is coming up soon. And yes, I do know that the Haileigh are dead set against any kind of mind magic. It will make the story veeery interesting later on. Hehehe . . . 


	2. chapter 2

Author's Note: Back again already, aren't I efficient. Read on, and please review if you like it.  
  
Oh, and, to Blind Shadows: Of course Valdemar wasn't established until long after the mage wars. And besides, this is after the mage storm books, ages after Valdemar was established anyway. The Haileigh are traditionalists; they won't have changed that much since White Gryphon, so I can still use that information.  
  
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Chapter 2  
  
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Vho groomed Edern. They were at a tiny little shed called a 'waystation', just inside the borders of the land called Valdemar. She was glad they didn't have to stay in an inn; the people stared at her constantly, and it made her very uneasy.  
  
She understood the reason for their curiosity, of course; they had obviously never seen anyone like her before. But she had never seen any pale skinned people - except for the very few white skinned people in the Kaled'a'in envoy, when she was a servant in the emperor's palace - and she didn't stare at them.  
  
It didn't help that she was unable to speak Valdemaran. As a mage-student, Vho had been taught Kaled'a'in and the trade-tongue, and that had been fine in White Gryphon and the Kaled'a'in outpost she had been Gated to, and even on the journey through Rethwellan the trade tongue had been commonly used. But here in Valdemar, few spoke trade tongue, and it was becoming harder and harder for Vho to communicate with the natives of this strange land.  
  
:Vho?: said Edern. :What are you thinking about? I can tell that you are worried.:  
  
Vho sighed. "I'm worried about this place you're taking me, for one thing." She said. "Are there more like you there? Are there many mages? They - won't think I'm stupid, will they, for not speaking Valdemaran?"  
  
:There are quite a lot of Companions like me there,: Edern told her. :But there aren't all that many mages. They only came to Valdemar recently. Most of the Companions are bonded to mind-mages.:  
  
"Mind - mages?" Vho echoed weakly. She dropped the brush and stepped away from Edern. "You mean they use - mind-magic - here?" Vho felt nauseated. To have come to a place that used that filthy form of - it couldn't even be called magic! It was disgusting, polluted . . .  
  
:Of course we have mind-magic here!: Edern seemed surprised by her shock. :How do you think I talk to you?: There was a roaring in Vho's ears. Edern used mind magic? That repulsive invasion of privacy? And he was content with it being used by humans, too? In a Godly creature like a Companion, mind magic might be acceptable, but in a human? Vho wanted to throw up at the thought that she might have gone to a place so polluted, that she too, might have been tainted . . .  
  
:Listen to me!: Edern was clearly shaken by her utter revulsion at something that was so basic a talent in Valdemar. :All the mind-mages were Chosen by creatures like me - would we Choose someone who would use their mind-magic for evil?:  
  
"No," admitted Vho reluctantly.  
  
:No one will use their mind-magic against you. It would go against their natures. Would you use your mage-gift against another human?:  
  
"No," admitted Vho. Anyone who even considered using their mage gifts for ill was stripped of their power and cast out of the temple-schools.  
  
:So they won't. I will keep you safe.:  
  
There was utter truth in Edern's words, but still - all her training had led her to despise mind magic. There were rumours that the Kaled'a'in used them, but nothing had ever been proved. Would these people be angry if they knew her people hated mind mages? Would they ask their gods to make Edern Choose someone else? The thought caused an ache in Vho's heart.  
  
:No one will try to make me Choose another,: Edern reassured her, pushing his soft nose into Vho's chest. :They will not despise you because of your people's prejudices. They will not scorn you for not speaking their language.:  
  
"But - how will I talk to them?" Vho worried. "Do they speak trade-tongue?"  
  
:Some speak trade-tongue,: Edern assured her. :And there is a Kaled'a'in envoy at Haven. They will speak the Haighleigh tongue as well as Kaled'a'in. And they will be able to give you lessons.:  
  
This was news to Vho. When she had stayed at the Kaled'a'in outpost, the former K'Treva Vale, she had not asked for another Gate to be built, and had left for the now much nearer land of Valdemar within a few days. Obviously no one had thought to tell her of these envoys.  
  
:Now that you're feeling better, you can pick up that brush and work on my neck. It itches.: Vho laughed, and set back to grooming Edern until he shined.  
  
"How did you get groomed on the road?" Asked Vho curiously.  
  
:Well - promise you won't be upset again?: After a baffled Vho promised, Edern continued. :We can keep a saddle on with no ill effects for over a month, but when I wanted to be groomed - I used mind magic on fellow travellers. Not much!: He quickly added. :Just if there was someone with time, to unsaddle me, groom me, and then forget they'd ever done it. I wouldn't do it often. Only when I needed to.: There was anxiety - anxiety that Vho would think less of him - in Edern's voice, and her heart softened.  
  
But the fear was still there. "Edern" she said, her voice trembling. "Promise me no one will use mind magic on me."  
  
When Edern spoke again, there was sadness and regret in his voice. :I'm sorry you cannot trust us.: He told her. :But I promise.:  
  
*  
  
Vho and Edern rode into Haven a few days later. If she had thought people stared at her before, they really looked at her here. It made her want to shrink down onto Edern's neck. Only pride kept her back unbent and her face impassive.  
  
Even the uniformed guard at the palace gate gazed at her, eyes wide and mouth slackly open. Vho cringed inwardly. If even a professional guard thought her such an oddity, what would others think?  
  
When she was through the gate, she saw two people moving in her general direction. One was mounted on another dazzling white 'Companion' but the other was riding an ordinary horse. Vho wondered if these people had heard about her, and were ready to send her away.  
  
At least, she thought this until they got closer. And then she saw that the one on the other horse had skin a shade darker than her own.  
  
"Wh - what are you doing here, so far from the Haileigh Empire?" she asked, accidentally speaking in her native tongue.  
  
"I might ask you the same question." The man replied dryly. He was a huge man, a warrior, and Vho could see that he carried a sword. "I am Geyr. I was a low caste servant, and I left the Haileigh Empire many years ago, and I came to this land. This - " He nodded to the irritated looking woman on the Companion. "Is Herald-Captain Kerowyn of the Skybolts. I work for her now."  
  
"Excuse me," interrupted Herald-Captain Kerowyn, thankfully speaking trade-tongue. "I don't mean to interrupt a reunion, but what are you talking about?"  
  
"My name is Vho, my lady." She replied politely, her years as a servant coming to the fore. "I apologise for any rudeness; I was surprised to meet a countryman here, so far from my home."  
  
"Humph. Well, can you speak Valdemaran, youngling?" At Vho's embarrassed negative, Kerowyn sighed. "Well, I'd ask Geyr to instruct you, but as it happens, he is on his way back to rejoin the Skybolts."  
  
Geyr grimaced. "I need to get back to hunting down those Gods-be-damned terrorists." he said. "I'll pick up those supplies, and be on my way."  
  
"However," Kerowyn continued obliviously. "We do need someone to teach you, and I haven't the time." Vho could see signs of tension and stress in the lines around her mouth and eyes.  
  
"Edern said there was a Kaled'a'in envoy," She ventured. Her confidence was returning at this simple knowledge. "I speak Kaled'a'in - maybe they could teach me?"  
  
"Treyvan and Hydona," Kerowyn nodded, obviously relieved. "Good choice, Herald Trainee."  
  
And those words, outwardly so simple, filled Vho with belonging, even in this strange country. 


	3. chapter 3

Author's note: Review, please. Since I don't get paid for this (and legally can't, disclaimer, etc) I need to have some motivation.  
  
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Chapter 3  
  
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Hydona grinned her approval as Vho mastered yet another chunk of Valdemaran language. When Vho agreed to this, she had not known that the envoy were gryphons, but it hadn't bothered her. The kingdom she had lived in was the closest to White Gryphon, and there had often been a gryphonic envoy at the palace.  
  
"Congrrratulationsss, youngling," She trilled. "Sssoon you'll be rready to join the rrresst of yourrr yearr grrroup in the classess." The trilling gryphonic accent had been the one drawback to having the gryphons as tutor. It had been difficult to understand them unless they enunciated carefully. However, this was offset by Vho's natural ability with languages.  
  
Suddenly someone pounded a quick few knocks on the door before flinging it open. A page dashed through, panting as if from a long and frantic run.  
  
"Sir, Lady, the Lady Elspeth tells you to come to the observation tower." The boy said breathlessly, speaking so fast Vho had difficulty understanding him. "She says that the (something unintelligible) have struck again, and the entire (another word Vho didn't understand) Colegium has to help."  
  
Treyvan growled a Kaled'a'in curse, and turned to Vho. "The terrrorrrisstss have ssstrrruck." He said in the Haileigh tongue, snapping his beak in an angry fashion. "All the magess are needed; Hydona and I musst leave you now."  
  
"Wait!" Vho called. "I'm a mage, Master class! Can I help?"  
  
Hydona seemed astounded as she turned back. "It would be a blessssing!" She said as Vho ran up to them. "Arre you trained, young one?"  
  
Vho nodded an affirmative as they ran into the grounds, and to a tower. Others were also pouring into it, and at the top of the tower a cluster of people stood.  
  
"Link!" shouted a woman wearing white clothing, and Vho released her hold on her power to throw it in with the rest. The amount there was incredible; surely there were many Adepts there. Why did they need everyone else?  
  
Scenes blurred before Vho's eyes, until, very soon, they were above an unknown village. Hundreds of soldiers swept into the village, but no one fought back. They were frozen, stock still, in the village and the soldiers were taking their time with killing them -  
  
Vho wanted to be sick. She had never seen anything like this. What in the name of the Gods is going on? She thought numbly.  
  
Suddenly, Vho saw through Mage-Sight as well as normal vision, and she saw very well. The villagers were mage bound, and the power raised by their slaughter was being drained away. There was a glimmer of magic on the soldiers as well, but it was not a coercion. Rather, Vho recognized it as an insidious 'encouragement' spell, used to bring people to a particular side, mixed in with a mage shield.  
  
The entire village was shielded as well. A strong construction, but Vho could easily see its weakness, and how simple it would be to break it. And yet, the mage - or mages - leading the link were helplessly slamming down bolts of pure energy - a single adept could, albeit with a lot of work, break it. So why the elaborate link, and this waste of power?  
  
Vho called for attention, and when that wasn't heard, screamed her rage at the needless torturous deaths. There must be some way to get their attention, get to the front of this link, and stop what was happening!  
  
Vho searched, wishing she could close her eyes to slaughter. Suddenly, she saw a web of light that connected - not in all places, but in some - to the linked mass of mages. She leaped, and swam through it. There was an energy so great it felt like fire, and for a moment, Vho shared it, looking through strange eyes...  
  
Then she flitted, feeling her position change in the meld, and came to the front - there - two people, only one joined to this web, but so closely linked in each others mind that it was easy to push both away -  
  
Yes!  
  
Power flooded in, more power than Vho had ever felt, and she saw her chance, and slithered in through the protections, like a grass snake sliding into a crack, and slipped out a blade of power to cut the shield away - she felt a moment of deadly rage, so real it might have been her own, rage that pulled at her, insidiously, horribly, and then -  
  
Nothing.  
  
No sight, no sound, no touch, no smell -  
  
And then she felt Edern pulling at her, and then she was rudely shoved from her position in the link, and sensation flooded back.  
  
Vho was back in the position she had been before, and the mages at the front were now, at least, not wasting time, they removed the mage-bonds and struck at the soldiers. Vho was horrified that the mages, with deadly accuracy, struck down the soldiers. They did deserve it, but the callousness like exterminating vermin - which maybe they are, whispered part of her mind coldly.  
  
And then she was released from the link.  
  
"Elspeth, Darkwind, you did it!" shouted someone rapturously. "How did you manage it? It was wonderful! Now we can stop them!"  
  
Elspeth had a strange look on her face as she answered. "I don't think it was me." She said slowly. "Someone pushed me out of the link - which should not have been possible, and broke the shield. Then they disappeared . . ." The man - Darkwind, Vho presumed - touched her arm, and she shook her head. "Well," she said more briskly. "You all may go. But if it was one of you who broke this - tell me?"  
  
When no one spoke up, the other mages dribbled off, leaving Elspeth, Darkwind, Vho and the gryphons at the top of the tower.  
  
"Well, youngling," said Hydona. "I sssupposse we should get back to yourr lesssoning now."  
  
They both looked surprised when Vho shook her head.  
  
She turned to face the two human, and irritated looking, Adepts. "I need to talk to you." 


	4. chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
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Author's Note: This took a while for the simple reason that I felt extremely unmotivated. This could be fixed by the simple method of sending in reviews. Except if they are critical reviews. That will make me even less motivated.  
  
Here's how it goes; if you praise me and worship me, I get motivated. If you depress me, I get unmotivated. If you really, really piss me off, I write lots just to spite you. If you merely irritate me, I will not write much. Follow these simple guidelines for reviewing success.  
  
If you make suggestions about the next chapter (on the condition that they are possible and constructive) I will normally at least consider them. If you make suggestions that I should change something I've already written, I will ignore you and hate you forever.  
  
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Elspeth turned to face her. She did not stare at Vho, or seem astounded by her skin colour, but judging by the fact that the person next to her was obviously one of the exotic 'hawk brothers', this was not surprising. It appeared she had seen stranger things than someone with dark colouring.  
  
"You broke the shield." She said slowly. It was not a question.  
  
"How?" asked Darkwind.  
  
Vho swallowed nervously, but allowed no sign of it to show on her face. "The shield was powerful, but it is an easy spell to break. It is normally the first shield taught to apprentices - to protect them from generalised mage blasts, not from specific attacks."  
  
Both Elspeth and Darkwind - and the gryphons, though it was less obvious - looked as though they had been hit on the back of the head with a board.  
  
"But - it's a spell I've never seen before!" Elspeth protested. "And there was no sign of how to break it from the outside!"  
  
Vho was astounded. "There were holes in it. It was easy enough to get through, once I got to the front of the link."  
  
The blank expression was back. Treyvan shook it off first.  
  
"How wasss it that you werrre able to move yourself in a fixed link?" Treyvan rumbled.  
  
"I - don't know," Vho confessed slowly. "I think it was the Companions. There was a web, linked to the mage-meld in some places. I used that."  
  
"How?" All four demanded practically in unison.  
  
"I don't know." Vho confessed again. "Maybe I'm just different."  
  
:Yes,: agreed Edern. :And that is why you are so important here.:  
  
*  
  
The mages continued to question her until the Gryphons acerbically remarked that she had a language lesson. But even then, Vho was still amazed at their lack of knowledge about things she felt were very basic. Imagine not being able to magnify their mage sight until they could see the 'tiny' holes in a shield. Imagine not being able to get through one of those holes 'because it was too small'. Size meant nothing in magic!  
  
It was the shield that was really puzzling her, however. If the commonplace spell was unknown here, it cast a suspicion that the caster was from the Haileigh Empire. And that was very strange, for anyone attempting to use magic for ill in the Haileigh Empire was stripped of their gift and cast out. And this mage, whoever he was, had obviously been trained in the same magic as Vho . . .  
  
"Well," Hydona concluded the lesson. "You cerrtainly have a gift forrr languagesss youngling. I believe that you can now join the classsess with the otherrr trraineesss."  
  
That certainly managed to put all thought of magic out of Vho's mind.  
  
"Really?" she asked eagerly. "That would be wonderful!"  
  
Treyvan, however, looked very troubled. "Maybe it'sss not sssuch a good idea," he said worriedly. "You'rrre going to be needed forr the mage-linksss. Perrhapss you shouldn't tie up yourr time with classess."  
  
"But I want to learn!" protested Vho. "I want to meet the other trainees! I'm already too far behind. Please say I can join the rest of the colegium?"  
  
And so the next day, Vho went to the first of her new classes.  
  
*  
  
The trainees gazed at her in astonishment as she entered the dining room for the first time. They would have heard rumours about her, of course, but she had not yet eaten with the others, thinking that it would be too confusing when she didn't speak the language.  
  
Vho sat down at a table, feeling acutely uncomfortable. A cheerful blonde girl a few years Vho's junior dropped into the seat opposite.  
  
"Hi. You must be Vho." she smiled at Vho, and Vho smiled back. "I'm Mara. I'm one of your new year mates."  
  
As if taking their cue from her, other trainees slipped into seats around the table. They were all in her year-group. As well as Mara, there was Merin, Mara's twin brother, Erich, Stev, Doric and Pena.  
  
The group instantly made her feel more at ease. Mara and Merin were twelve years old, but The quiet, dark haired Pena was nineteen, two years older than Vho. Erich, Stev and Doric were ranged between them.  
  
However, she would not spend long with her new classmates. The first class was history of the realm. Vho was just getting interested when a page looked through the door.  
  
"'Scuse me, Herald," the boy panted. "Lady Elspeth and Lord Darkwind need Trainee Vho to come to the Mage's colegium, urgently."  
  
The elderly Herald taking the class looked surprised. "Well, alright, Vho, if you could . . . ?"  
  
But Vho was already leaving the room.  
  
She did not wait for the servant, but ran down the corridors towards the door. She ran across the grounds to the observation tower that was part of the mage colegium, and ran up the stairs. This time only a few people stood at the top of the tower.  
  
"Vho, I hope you can do what you did last time," Elspeth said tersely. "These are the Adept mages. I haven't called in the others. Now link!"  
  
This time was different; the others joined the meld behind Vho, and she was in complete, uncontested control. She could, however, feel the hovering double-presence behind her, ready to catch her if she failed. It was oddly comforting.  
  
The shield surrounding the village was different this time; tighter, more secure. Vho looked in vain for a hole, but she could not see. Desperately, she traced it back to its creator.  
  
Suddenly their was a nauseating twist of perspective, and Vho saw the shield from - underneath? From the side? It was baffling. There was a vague concentration surrounding her, but she ignored it and reached out to break the spell. She found out how, and reached to the meld for power - and they were gone!  
  
Terrified, Vho cast about for an alternate source of power. And it was there, closer than she had ever thought it would be, as easy to reach as her own magic, but a thousand times as powerful. The power was already moving - Towards the shield? Part of her asked incredulously - but she stopped it with no effort at all and used it to snap the bindings on the shield.  
  
Then came bafflement, and rage, from somewhere external yet strangely part of her. Vho sought a way out - any escape from this confusing place where her mind was not her own. She was no longer connected to Elspeth and Darkwind at all, but their was one silver blue figure that she could still reach. She clung to Edern, wishing now for the blasphemic mindspeech so she could call for help. However, he was somehow enough of an anchor to pull her back, and with a huge relief, Vho returned to her own body.  
  
*  
  
This Chapter is now finished. Try to guess what's going to happen. (Kirsty isn't allowed to guess, because I've already told her.)  
  
Remember what I said about reviews! 


	5. chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
Author's Note: Adore me!!! Worship me!!!  
  
*  
  
Vho came to, completely cut off from the link, and stumbled, nearly falling, her jolty ride having unsteadied her completely. She felt oddly exhausted, and leant against a wall.  
  
The others mages came out of their trance and blinked dazedly. The three unknown mages - all apparently Heralds - slipped out. Elspeth hurried over.  
  
"Vho are you alright? You completely disappeared! Then the shield vanished, but you didn't come back." The Adept looked at her in concern. "What in the Havens happened?"  
  
"I d-don't know," said Vho, her voice sounding shaky even in her own ears. "It was a slightly different shield this time. I couldn't break it like I did last time. But suddenly it was like I was looking from - somewhere else. I could see the inside of the shield, where the power was coming from, and I could break it."  
  
Darkwind and Elspeth exchanged a troubled glance.  
  
"Listen, Vho," Darkwind was strangely awkward, and Vho suspected he was about to say something that, strictly, he shouldn't. "Now we have someone who can stop these terrorists, we have to go with the Skybolts, and find their headquarters."  
  
"What have the terrorists done so far?" Vho asked curiously.  
  
Elspeth's face darkened. "They've been working against the crown." she said soberly. "We think what they want is to throw the country into chaos, and then move in and take over. They've been sending assassins against Mother and Daren, and the twins. And the council is terrified - two of them were killed already."  
  
"But where do they get the soldiers? Why is the mage helping them?"  
  
Elspeth looked impressed at Vho's political astuteness. "The soldiers are just bandits, but they're trained, and have weapons. The mage - well, we think his price is blood magic from the villages, and free rein over the country if they win."  
  
"Vho, we need your help." Darkwind said. "We can't do anything against this mage, and somehow, you can. This is dangerous, and you can say no if you want - but we could really use your help with hunting this man down."  
  
The thought of the blood magic raised from the slaughtered village made Vho shudder. "Alright." she said quietly. "If I can, I'll help you."  
  
*  
  
By the time she got back to her room, Vho's temples were pounding. It seemed that her helping the mages had given her a reaction headache, and she wished desperately for some herbs to numb the pain. But the thought of going to look for some just made her aching head hurt even worse, and so she went to bed, hoping to sleep off her exhaustion.  
  
However, the headache did not lessen even in sleep, and her dreams were strange and vivid. She seemed to be looking out of another's eyes. She looked out at a rough walled cavern, through which men hurried. They seemed strangely lopsided, until she realised that she was lying down one a pile of silky cushions.  
  
"Wine!" she shouted, in a voice far deeper than her own. "Bring wine! Or something! Painkillers! Quickly!"  
  
An unshaven man dressed in armour ran over, offering a brimming goblet. She seized it and drank it down, noting with surprise that her skin had changed from it's normal, smooth dark brown, to a hard, shiny, onyx black.  
  
She clutched her throbbing temples. A richly dressed man entered the cave and strode over, anger evident in his entire posture.  
  
"Kalathan!" He shouted when he saw Vho. "What in the Havens happened?" I needed that village destroyed! And yet for the second time you've failed!"  
  
"They have a new mage, Javer." The deep voice grated slightly with anger. "This one is like no other I have ever seen. He broke my shield - a shield none here could possibly know - and when I changed it, he somehow managed to spell cast through it. He blocked me, stole my power, and broke the damned shield again!"  
  
"Find him, you idiot mage!" shouted the enraged Javer. "He would have left a trail a mile wide, even I know that!"  
  
"You think I didn't try?" Vho started to her feet. She noted with surprise that she was wearing an adaptation of the rich silk robe that high class mages in the palaces of the Haileigh Emperors often wore. "He was gone. I found no trace."  
  
"Find him. Stop him. Get us that throne!" Javer roared. "The other Lords and I can easily find another mage. Do not think you aren't expendable."  
  
Vho settled back into the cushions, and a nasty smile twisted her lips. "I don't think so, my lord." The deep voice almost purred. "Even if you do find another mage for hire, he will be most expensive. There are not many who have reasons to want to destroy this land."  
  
"We need those villages destroyed!" repeated Lord Javer. "We need to lure those mages away from Selenay, or the assassins won't get through. Now, do it!" And with that, the man strode from the cave.  
  
*  
  
Vho woke up, feeling very strange. She felt oddly strange and stiff, as though she had not moved all night. She looked out the eastward facing window, and saw to her surprise that the sun was coming up. She had slept the entire afternoon and the whole night as well.  
  
A bell began to ring - the morning bell which called the trainees down to breakfast. Vho pulled on the still strange feeling uniform, and pulled her hair away from its messy fuzz around her face. She opened the door and slipped into the thin stream of trainees.  
  
"Vho!" The addressed turned to see that Mara was approaching, and waited politely for her to catch up. "Where were you yesterday? We couldn't find you. Why did you get called away?"  
  
Vho felt acutely uncomfortable. She had the feeling that Elspeth wanted this kept quiet. "I don't think I can tell you." she said quietly.  
  
Mara laughed. "What could you possibly be doing that's so important you can't even tell another Trainee?" when Vho didn't answer, she shrugged. "Fine then. You don't need to tell me." There was no anger in Mara's voice, but Vho could tell she was slightly hurt. Mara moved off.  
  
Again, her year group, including a slightly reticent Mara, sat with Vho. They, too, wanted to know where she had been, but Vho fended them off with queries about the work she had missed. They had all finished breakfast, and were about to return to their rooms, when Vho saw a white-garbed figure leave the Herald's table.  
  
Even from a distance Vho could recognize Elspeth, and she contrived to be at the back of the group as they left the hall. She lagged behind as the group split into its component parts, and Elspeth caught up with her.  
  
"Vho, I need to talk to you," she said in a low voice. Vho nodded and led her into her room. Elspeth took the desk chair, and Vho sat on the bed. "I talked to Teren; the Dean of Herald's Colegium. He says that if it is the only way, you can be taken out of classes long enough to help us hunt down this mage." Vho nodded again, and Elspeth went on. "You, Darkwind and me will go to hunt this mage. Firesong is Gating in to help us, but that will be all." Vho must have looked confused, because Elspeth elaborated. "Firesong is a healing adept, a very powerful mage, but we've only recently gotten a message to him. He'll be arriving around noon-ish, so we'll leave early tomorrow." The word 'leave' rang vague warning bells in Vho's mind, but she ignored it. "Don't tell anyone what's happening; pack a few things tonight, and I'll check them. Rest; don't use any magical energy; you'll need it all if we run into trouble."  
  
*  
  
Dun dun dun! (sorry, I can't resist it; all of should come with a soundtrack) 


	6. chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
Author's Note: I'm too bored with doing anything else wait for reviews, but that doesn't mean I don't want them! Review, please!  
  
*  
  
Kalathan stared into an obsidian mirror, wondering why he felt so - uncomfortable. The hideous headache and the peculiar power drain had been recovered from, but he still felt that there was something wrong. He attempted, yet again, to scry towards the palace, but he was stopped by those infuriating mage boundaries, and shields made of something elusive that he could not even see.  
  
A scowl dropped onto Kalathan's face. This entire country was repulsive. Those boundaries - he knew what they were. Those white clothed people Javer and the others were so concerned about must indeed be demons to allow that monstrosity to be used.  
  
A strange euphoria settled over Kalathan, and he smiled. Once he had accomplished this self-appointed quest to destroy the blasphemes use of mind power, he would be exalted above all others. The gods were surely pleased with him.  
  
Inspired by this thought, he abandoned his fruitless striving towards the palace, and looked into the mirror again, breathing onto it's glossy black surface. With a touch of his power, he went searching for those white- garbed blasphemers.  
  
Here was one - a man, brown haired and pale skinned, talking to villagers who looked at him with awe. If only they knew how surely their idol was disobeying the gods. Kalathan stared at the man with mage sight, and saw no glittering sheath of magic gift, but those repulsive, slippery bluish threads. And the horse like creature he sat upon - the slimy blue silver power shone through it unmistakeably.  
  
When he achieved the death of the queen - what sane country would allow a female to rule over men anyway? - and the death of all her white clothed minions, he would have to purify all those creatures, and return their power to the gods.  
  
Bored of watching this one man, Kalathan restlessly jumped from one "herald" to another. Suddenly, the view shown by the mirror moved unexpectedly close to the city where all those aggravatingly strong shields were. It showed a small party leaving the gates, and riding down one of the roads. Curious, he dove closer, and examined them.  
  
The first was mounted on one of those horse like things - this one was full of the blasphemes power, far more so than any others he had seen. A woman, dressed in white, and full of true, real magical power, as well as with threads of that unsightly blue.  
  
Beside her rode a man, also with both true magic, and blasphemes power. However, he was not dressed in the white uniform, wearing instead brown and green. Nor was he mounted on either a real horse or one of the demons others used. This creature was like none he had ever seen - three slender horns rose from its head. And unlike any other normal animal, this one had strands of the evil blue.  
  
Behind these two were three others. The first was dressed in a bright silk robe, and wore an elaborate mask over his face. His free flowing hair was an Adepts silver, and when Kalathan scanned him, he saw an awesome power, laced with greenish energy. He was mounted on another three-horned creature.  
  
The next man had no magic - only traces of the repugnant power that seemed so common in this god-forsaken land. His hair was long and black, and he rode another of the unknown horned animals.  
  
The last, however - she made Kalathan start in surprise. For her skin was a dark brown, and she was undoubtedly from the Empire, just as Kalathan was. She wielded only pure magic, no blasphemes powers, and she wore a grey tunic, not white. In spite of this, however, she was sat upon one of those eerie not-horses. Kalathan's first thought, that she was a prisoner, was obviously untrue.  
  
He stared at her, wondering why she seemed so familiar, and why he had no wish to destroy so blatent a traitor to the orders of the gods. He gazed at her as though mesmerised, and suddenly, he could feel dreamlike sensations, as though from someone else, far away.  
  
The warm touch of watery sunshine on his face - but Kalathan was in a cave - Edern's warmth and gentle presence - who was Edern? - the soft rubbing of the cotton against her arms - but Kalathan was wearing silk. What was happening? Kalathan was feeling dizzy, he couldn't pay attention. He shut his eyes, trying to stop thinking about this unknown girl. Instead he saw through someone else's eyes.  
  
*  
  
Vho listened to the talk of the other four, who, she gathered, were old friends. She did not feel left out, but she felt strangely abstracted, as though she were seeing everything through a window. Her strange dreams two nights ago had somehow imprinted themselves on her mind, and for some reason, she wished she had seen this man's - Kalathan's - face. It seemed strangely important, somehow.  
  
"Vho?" Elspeth turned slightly in Gwena's saddle to look at her. "Are you alright? You seem very quiet."  
  
For a split second Vho seemed to wonder who she was speaking to, but the thought drifted away.  
  
"I'm fine," Vho assured her.  
  
Elspeth turned back to the road. "Now we're out of the traffic, let's have a canter," she suggested. "It's a long way to that village."  
  
Edern moved into a canter. They were headed for the village this mage had destroyed. Vho wondered idly why she insisted on calling him Kalathan in her mind. That was only a name conjured up by her sleeping unconscious. Elspeth was hoping to pick up a trail there. Then they would hunt him down, and stop him.  
  
For a sudden moment, Vho's mind filled with shock, then scorn. The scorn was laced with a burning malice, and a hungry desire to see them dead at her feet.  
  
Silverfox stopped his dyheli and stared at her. "Vho? What's wrong?" He asked. The others turned and joined them.  
  
Vho didn't answer; her mouth did not seem to be under her control. Edern turned to regard her with anxiety in his blue eyes. There was a second burst of hate filled malice and fear that would have made Vho cry out in pain if she could have.  
  
"Silverfox, what's wrong?" Vho could barely see them, or hear them; it was like she was being pushed away.  
  
"I don't know." He said helplessly. "She just suddenly let out a load of emotions -scorn, hatred, then - murderous rage. And I can barely feel her, it's like she's only partly in her body, and most of her is somewhere else!"  
  
:Someone's pushing her out, and sitting in her mind!: Edern spoke to all of them. :I can reach her, but she isn't where she should be.:  
  
The group all looked alarmed. "Who? Is it this mage, has he figured that it's her who's fighting him?" Elspeth demanded.  
  
Vho could hear, her, but only like an echo. She was not – fully - inside herself, but there was a trail, thin and almost indistinguishable, that seemed to go between her body and somewhere else. She was being pulled, as if by a vacuum, to the other place, but she stubbornly forced her way back.  
  
Thoughts, alien, full of rage and obsession, raced in her mind like her own, separated only by her own knowledge that they were separate. There was power there, huge power, and it felt like her own. The mind caught her and held her.  
  
Witch!  
  
The thoughts were not like Edern, smooth and clear-cut in her mind. They were built from emotion, and they burned in her mind.  
  
What foul blasphemy is this? The gods will have you for this!  
  
Edern somehow found her, and bound himself to her. Suddenly, she was in her own body again, and in control. But the alien-ness was still there, buried in her own head.  
  
Let me go, witch, blasphemer, traitor!  
  
There was rage and fear, but underneath a strange pulling that would not stop. It was - fascinating. It drew her to it and she watched, engrossed. The alien swirling and the pulling came closer.  
  
A sudden sharp pain broke her thrall.  
  
"Vho? Vho?" It was Elspeth speaking. Vho clung to the sound of her voice, real, tangible. Now she could not see it, could not feel it, the alien pulling revolted her.  
  
"I'm - here." Vho replied. Her cheek stung, and she touched it, confused.  
  
"I slapped you," explained Elspeth apologetically. "What was that?"  
  
"His name is Kalathan." Vho stated certainly. "He is a mage. The one we're looking for. I can - feel him, in my head."  
  
"Where is he?" demanded Darkwind.  
  
Vho closed her eyes. The feel of him had a direction. It was a faint pull, like metal to a lodestone. Edern turned underneath her, until they were facing almost due North.  
  
"That way." She declared, gazing down the road as though she thought she would see him.  
  
"How far?" Darkwind asked again.  
  
"I don't know, it doesn't matter, he is - far, but close, almost in my head . . ."  
  
Silverfox stared at Darkwind. "No . . ."  
  
Darkwind's face was grim. "I can't think what else it could be." he admitted. "Somehow, Vho and this mage we want, this 'Kalathan' are lifebonded."  
  
* * * * *  
  
You'll have to wait until next time to find out what will happen. Muwahahahaha!  
  
And I gave you lots and lots of hints about the lifebonding. By the way, is the correct term in the Haileigh tongue "loriganaela"? It's been ages since I read The White Gryphon, and I don't have a copy. 


	7. chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
Author's note: C'mon, c'mon! Review! If I'm reading reviews, I can put off homework for another day! (That is actually a good thing; it's mentally stimulating to have to lie to your teacher! Honest!)  
  
Thanks a heap to everyone who has already reveiwed, and thanks especially to mysticmoods, who told me how you spell 'loriganalea'.  
  
*  
  
When the others explained the term 'lifebonded' to Vho, she was shocked.  
  
"But - that is loriganalea!" she gasped. "Gods-blessed bond! It is the holiest of all ties among the Haileigh; it is believed that none may refuse a loriganaela couple anything, or the Gods' curses are upon them."  
  
"It's not terribly uncommon among Heralds," Elspeth told her. "There are four lifebonded couples at the moment."  
  
"Five now." Darkwind murmured.  
  
"Is there anyway we could block it?" Elspeth asked, ignoring his comment. "It won't help us to have our enemy listening in."  
  
Silverfox shook his head. "Empathic bond," he informed them regretfully. "They can't be blocked."  
  
"I - don't think he's here right now." Vho said. "I can feel him if he's, well, right here. When Elspeth slapped me, I could let go. I think he went away as well."  
  
"'Let go?' " Silverfox repeated. "What do you mean? Lifebonds are normally passive."  
  
"He was scared," Vho said. "And angry. He thought I was doing it. But - it was like something was pulling at me. I couldn't get out."  
  
Silverfox's eyebrows shot up. "Well," he said quietly. "I think we are witnessing Velgarth's first destructive lifebond."  
  
"Destructive or not," Elspeth reminded them, "We have a long way to go."  
  
*  
  
They had galloped most of the day, and it was only concern for the dyheli which had prevented them from galloping the rest of the time as well. It had been a couple of hours past sunset when they stopped at an inn, but it already felt to Vho as though they had been on the road for days. They gathered in the large private room Elspeth had hired to make their plans.  
  
"Alright," Elspeth said by way of introduction. "We know he's to the North. Any idea how far?"  
  
Vho shook her head helplessly. "Quite far, but I can't help any more than that."  
  
"This road heads straight over the Ice Wall mountains." Elspeth said. "Is he in the Wildlands?"  
  
"No. He's definitely in Valdemar. He was talking to a Valdemaran noble."  
  
"What?" Elspeth demanded. "Which one? Why didn't you mention that?"  
  
"A Lord Javer." Vho supplied. "He was part of a conspiracy. They were going to assassinate the Queen, but they needed you out of the way first. Then Kalathan was going to get rid of them, and take over himself."  
  
"Why didn't you mention that?" Elspeth demanded again.  
  
"It wasn't today. It was a couple of nights ago. I dreamt it." Vho sounded a bit embarrassed about the slightly weak excuse.  
  
"Any other adventures?" Firesong asked dryly.  
  
"Why is he doing this?" Darkwind asked distractedly. "Why? Is he another Falconsbane, liking to kill? Does he want power?"  
  
"What I want to know is how he still has his powers." Silverfox said with a frown. "Any clues, Vho?"  
  
Vho considered it. Normally, if you even considered using mage-gifts to so much as cheat at cards, you were stripped of your gifts and thrown out of the temples. "He isn't fully trained," She said slowly, trying to think of what might have happened. "He obviously left the temple schools early - possibly he escaped before they realised he would use his powers to harm." The answer didn't seem to fit.  
  
"And why is he here?" Darkwind asked.  
  
Vho shook her head, and then, unexpectedly, yawned. "I don't know," she lied, and yawned again. All her tiredness seemed suddenly to overwhelm her.  
  
"Bed." Elspeth ordered briskly, jumping to her feet. "We have another long ride tomorrow."  
  
*  
  
In spite of her tiredness, Vho lay awake, thinking about what she knew of Kalathan. She also wondered about her reaction to Darkwind's question. Perhaps it was just her tiredness making her wish to escape the interrogation, but perhaps it was something more sinister.  
  
As she drifted further towards sleep, Vho found herself thinking uncharacteristic thoughts. Why should she have told those Heralds about why Kalathan truly wished to destroy their country? They would probably assume that such an obsessive hatred of mind magic was characteristic of all the Haileigh people. They would probably rid themselves of Vho as well as Kalathan if they knew . . .  
  
Apart of Vho wondered idly why she was suddenly so suspicious, but the rest of her mind pushed that part away, and her paranoid musings followed her into sleep.  
  
*  
  
Vho floated in nothingness, a pool of the thoughts and feelings that made up her personality, surrounded by the absence of everything. But she was not alone. For beside her was another 'pool'; alien, yet hauntingly familiar.  
  
The two pools were joined by a thick river - or was it a river? It was more that the pools were touching - that flowed in both directions, made up of thought and substance from both pools. And although she had never seen anything like this, Vho knew that this was startlingly different.  
  
The pools should be touching, yes, but not so - indistinguishable. Like water and oil, the pools should be together, yet separate, but these were like two different paints, mixing to create an entirely new colour.  
  
And when she visualised it this way, the image changed. There were now two puddles of colour, one blue, one red. They 'rolled' towards each other, until they formed one puddle with two different halves. Then the puddles began to bleed into each other, until swirls of a rich purple marred both colours. And Vho knew, with a deadly certainty, that eventually the two colours would mix so thoroughly as to be the same.  
  
And then Vho understood. This lifebond was not destructive, as Silverfox had said; it was constructive, creating something entirely new. Most life bonds were passive; the two puddles were touching, yes, but still were not completely joined. They might take parts of the other with them, might take so much that one could not live without the other, but the lifebonded couple could be separated.  
  
However, she and Kalathan would be joined so utterly that they would become the same being, dwelling in two bodies. And that realization filled her with a deadly terror.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long to get up; it's half term, and uploading things is difficult when you're on holiday. And sorry this is a bit of a nothing chapter, but I just wanted to explain what their Lifebond is like. Thanks for all the reviews, next chapter I'll try and follow some of the advice. And if I don't quite manage to make Vho a more realistic character, don't blame me; she's three years older than I am! 


	8. chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
*  
  
Vho didn't know whether she should tell anyone, even Edern, about the strange dreams she had experienced the previous night. She had managed to suppress her irrational paranoia and suspicion, guessing that it was a sign of Kalathan's thinking contaminating her own, but she still wasn't sure how she could tell them, or how to convince them that the dream truly was prophetic.  
  
Vho was also still possessed with the cold fear of losing herself in someone else's mind, unable to be an individual any longer. However, try as she might, she could think of no way in which to stop it, and she could not detect any insidious tendrils of alien thought sneaking into her mind.  
  
"Vho," Silverfox was now riding beside her. She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she had not even noticed him dropping back. "I wanted to ask you something; does this mage, Kalathan, have any mind magic?"  
  
"Why do you ask?" she enquired. Was that her own caution and suspicion, or Kalathan's? She had to break this doubt circle somehow, but she couldn't . . .  
  
"I'm still wondering how, why, he left the Empire and came here. It would also be nice to know what we'll be facing."  
  
"He has no mind magic at all." Vho pushed the words past her own reluctance. "He - doesn't like mind magic. But he is Adept class - more than, really."  
  
Silverfox nodded gravely. "Also - you said something, last night, about sending assassins to kill the Queen, for this conspiracy."  
  
"Yes," Vho said. "Elspeth mentioned that there had been assassins, but they stopped them. Kalathan realised that there were too many powerful mages around the Queen. They had hoped to make them wear out against the shields, or lure them away, and kill them, and then kill the Queen."  
  
Silverfox seemed slightly anxious. "And we've just been lured off." He murmured, shaking his head. "Oh well, at least there are still other mages looking after the Queen."  
  
*  
  
Kalathan stared at himself in the obsidian mirror that was one of the few relics of his homeland. He examined his reflection minutely, and whispered the tiny spell to keep his eyes and hair their natural, matte black colour. He would wear his strange colouring like the badge of pride and individuality it truly was, rather than let himself bleach to a 'normal' appearance.  
  
He was, in appearance, even more outlandish than Vho, for his skin was a shining onyx, and his teeth and the whites of his eyes were the only other colour on his face. His hair was tightly curled, forming a close cap over his head. His square chin jutted forward stubbornly, and his face was all planes and angles rather than soft curves.  
  
In spite of their similar origins, Vho and Kalathan were not very similar in appearance; Her eyes were not the same disquieting black, but were rather a very dark brown. Her skin, too, was lighter, a soft brown rather than a gleaming black. Her face was oval, without Kalathan's high cheekbones that made his face look like an unfinished carving. Only their hair was very similar; Vho's hair surrounded her face in a wild tangle of curls that fell to her shoulders, customarily tamed into a tight knot at the nape of her neck.  
  
A surge of anger filled Kalathan as he, in spite of himself, compared his own visage to Vho's. How had that witch done what she had done? Why could he not stop thinking about her. He could not even concentrate on his God-sent mission.  
  
When that thought struck him, Kalathan realised the truth. This was a test, sent to him by the Gods to see how devoted he was to their quest. He must reassure them of his unswerving devotion to this cause, and all would be as normal. This girl Vho - where had he learnt her name? Had the Gods given it to him? - was their vessel, however unwitting, just as he himself was.  
  
Having worked that out, Kalathan knelt on the floor of his cavern and began to call upon the Gods.  
  
*  
  
Edern's smooth canter was vaguely hypnotic, and since it was the norm for a largely untrained rider on a dangerous mission to be belted into the saddle, Vho hardly needed to concentrate on holding on. She found herself dozing, and did not resist what she would normally consider to be irresponsible behaviour.  
  
She leaned forward in the saddle, tightly wrapping herself in her cloak; even in the late Valdemaran spring, someone acclimatized to the much hotter Empire required a cloak to feel comfortable. Than the smoothly rocking motion of Edern's canter lulled her to sleep.  
  
*  
  
Vho felt warm and very safe, even though she knew she should be terrified by the fact that she was no where near any of her friends. For some reason they seemed unimportant.  
  
With an unnatural, dreamy lassitude, Vho looked around. She was in the cavern again. It was part natural, but in places the walls were polished smooth by magic. In places thick rugs covered the smooth rock floor, and a pile of luxuriant silk cushions lay in one corner.  
  
The cavern was oddly square, and there were two openings - too regular to be fully natural - in adjacent walls. Both were covered with silk curtains, of a blood red silk, and both the curtains were pulled across. However, the cave was well lit, by amber coloured mage lights that also warmed the room to a high temperature.  
  
One corner of the square cave, between the two walls with openings had an artificial fountain which trickled into a largish pond on the cave floor. Opposite this was the corner piled with cushions. In another corner was a shelving unit and a cupboard. Vho drifted over, and incuriously examined the objects on the shelf. There was an obsidian mirror and a silver bowl inlaid with designs of gold wire.  
  
Vho turned to face the last corner. It held a small but elaborate shrine to the Gods, like those found in noble homes. Temples, or course, held much larger versions, but like the obsidian mirror, the shrine was so familiar as to make her heart ache with homesickness.  
  
The person kneeling before it, however, was unknown to Vho, and she moved closer to see his face. She walked across the 'room', ignoring the beautifully carved table that blocked her path. It seemed oddly unsurprising to Vho that she could walk straight through it.  
  
The man carried on the theme of red that dominated the room in his rich silk robe, heavily embroidered in gold. He was not handsome, even by Vho's Empiric standards, and she wondered why so powerful a mage would have kept an imperfect form.  
  
His face did have a great deal of character, though; stubbornness in the strong chin, a great deal of determination. And in spite of never having seen him before, Vho knew him.  
  
"Kalathan." She stated calmly. He did not look up from his prayer. Vho wondered if he could not hear her, or was merely ignoring her. She did not bother to speak again, but waited for him to fall into the meditative trance cultivated by worshippers. When he did so his body stilled completely, and the murmuring quieted.  
  
After a moment, Kalathan stood up, leaving his body still knelt on the floor.  
  
"Vho." He identified her, looking much calmer than she would have expected. "Are you here to test me?"  
  
"Why should I be?" Bafflement seemed to be beyond her in this out of body state, so Vho asked with curiosity rather than confusion.  
  
"You are the vessel of the Gods." Kalathan said confidently. "They are testing my devotion to them."  
  
Suddenly Vho realised that Kalathan was much younger than they had all thought. Previously when Vho had seen his thoughts, he had been harsh and cruel, but here all illusions were gone, all the defences and barriers they all entered into their own minds slipped away, taking with them all emotions, and leaving only intellect.  
  
"Why did you destroy those villages?" Vho asked.  
  
"They are blasphemers, they worship those monstrous demons. Their deaths purified them. The power of their wasted lives will be returned to the Gods." There was doubt in his voice and mind, but Vho had a vague understanding of what he meant.  
  
"Do the Gods answer when you pray?" Vho asked gently. "Did they tell you to follow this course? Did they say you should kill the ignorant along with the true blasphemers?"  
  
Kalathan looked confused. "They speak in my heart; they tell me what is right. And - ignorance is not innocence."  
  
"But it is not guilt. They did nothing, yet you kill them."  
  
"Their power goes to the Gods! They serve in their death!"  
  
"How does their power go to the Gods? Do you give it to them? No, the power goes to you, Kalathan. You do not have that right." Kalathan was silent, so Vho continued. "Is the Lord Javer a God?"  
  
"No." The denial was immediate.  
  
"Then why do you follow his bidding?"  
  
"I follow the Gods! They wish this land cleaned of blasphemers! Lord Javer is a means to this end! And I will keep this land worshipping the Gods, cleansed of blasphemers!"  
  
"Why did you leave your mage training in the Empire?" Vho asked curiously.  
  
"I was given my mission; to destroy blasphemers and demons. I left to do holy work. I travelled the lands of Velgarth, until I came to this place. And then I saw my destiny; to rescue this land and turn it back to the path of the Gods!"  
  
"Why do you hate blasphemers with such a passion?" Vho asked clinically. She noticed that Kalathan was able to muster far more emotion than she was. His mouth snapped shut. "I command you to speak!" She continued imperially.  
  
"It was blasphemers, evil ones, rogue bandits of the Empire who killed my family." Kalathan said. "None survived their slaughter, and no blasphemer will survive mine!"  
  
"And so you become what you most hate." Vho said sadly. "Murderer, destroyer of families. How many children have you killed, Kalathan?"  
  
"But the Gods - the Gods - " Kalathan's mouth worked but no sound came out. His figure began to fade away.  
  
Vho watched as the projection of Kalathan disappeared. She watched aimlessly as his body reanimated and began to shake.  
  
She felt a pull at the back of her mind and followed slowly. How would she explain this to the others?  
  
* * * * *  
  
Yeah, sorry about the slow-movingness. It's just easier to make one point at a time. 


	9. chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
*  
  
"Been somewhere?" Elspeth asked dryly as Vho opened her eyes. Vho didn't realise what she had said for a moment; the combination of a killer headache and having spent the last while talking in her native tongue did not really help her understanding of Valdemaran.  
  
Silverfox laid a cool hand on Vho's forehead, and the pain receded slightly. With hands stiff from disuse, Vho detached the water from her saddle and took a swig. Elspeth made an impatient noise.  
  
"I, uh, was spying on Kalathan." Vho said evasively. She would have said more, but what she had learned was special to Kalathan, a secret, and Vho felt as though they were her secrets, too.  
  
"Did you learn anything that could help us when we fight him?" Elspeth asked eagerly.  
  
Vho suddenly felt very sick. She was going with a group to kill Kalathan, and she was perhaps the only person who could do it. And a day or so ago, she would have said that he deserved it, but now . . . He was misguided, yes, and a fanatic, but the evil he was doing was in the name of good. Surely no one deserved to die because they were ignorant and misguided?  
  
Kill him, part of her advised callously. He's killed people, so in return, kill him. Only fair.  
  
But he might not be evil! Part of her wailed in reply. Stupid, yes, but not evil!  
  
And the part of her mind that watched the other parts quietly pointed out that even a day or so ago, she would not have thought as harshly and judgementally as that first comment. Kalathan was changing her. Anyway, what would happen to Vho if he was killed? Would she die too? Would she be left utterly insane, with half her mind stolen? Would Kalathan still live within her, making every day a battle for control of her own body?  
  
"Vho? Are you alright?" Elspeth asked her anxiously.  
  
"What happens to a lifebonded pair when one of them dies?" Vho asked them. In the Empire it would never have come up as an option, but here . . .  
  
Elspeth looked startled at the unexpected question. "Uh, well, there are different standards," She started. "My ancestor, Vanyel, managed to survive the death of his bonded because he was Chosen. Herald Keren bonded to someone else and survived . . ."  
  
Reading between the lines gave Vho her answer. "So when one of them dies, the other does too, except in very rare occasions."  
  
"Look on the bright side," Firesong said soberly. "You might be driven mad instead." Elspeth and Darkwind shot him exasperated looks.  
  
"I don't think you actually need to kill him," Vho said.  
  
As she predicted, Elspeth exploded. "Why not?" she demanded. "He's destroyed entire villages just for power! He is evil!"  
  
The old Vho would have responded calmly. But Kalathan seemed to have passed on quite a temper, as well as his harshness. "He is not evil!" Vho said hotly. "By the technicalities of his religion, and incidentally, mine, he isn't evil, you are."  
  
Elspeth looked shocked, both at this revelation and at Vho's sharp reply. Vho felt a malicious surge of victory. She loved the expression of absolute blankness on Elspeth's face.  
  
Silverfox sighed. "Mind magic, hmm?" he hazarded. "Are they still so fanatic about that?"  
  
"Excuse me," Darkwind said politely. "But - what?"  
  
"Our religion says that mind magic is taboo." Vho explained. "My country is the nearest to White Gryphon, and we've gotten used to mind magic, so we aren't fanatic about it. But Kalathan is from much further away, and his country looks upon mind magic as absolute evil."  
  
"But that doesn't explain destroying the villages." Elspeth objected.  
  
"He knows that you and the other Heralds are blasphemers and criminals, sees you riding creatures basically created from evil mind magic - demons - and sees the villagers worshipping you, ergo, they are blasphemers and must be cleansed, and their life power returned to the Gods."  
  
Elspeth shuddered. "It's the Karsites all over again."  
  
Firesong spoke up. "I could scry into this cavern of his, and look for something that would, well, confirm this."  
  
A furious reply was on Vho's lips. :I wouldn't,: Edern told her quietly. Vho realised with a start that they had barely talked in recent times. :If you act so different to how you normally are, they'll start asking questions. And you don't want to tell them that Kalathan's attitudes are becoming yours, do you?:  
  
They were riding at a canter now, rather than the easy trot they had used during their conversation. "How did you know?" Vho whispered furiously to Edern.  
  
:I can feel it,: Edern told her. :You are changing; for the better, I think. You were too soft and quiet before. Servantlike. Now you have enough courage and strength to defy your superiors to do what you think it right. And that is Kalathan's strength and courage, it's his harshness that is making you strong. But it is your sweetness, morality and knowledge of what is right and wrong that is controlling that, and gentling it, and making it reasonable. There is enough goodness in you to share with him, and enough strength in him to spare. Together you will be stronger than you are apart.: There was a pause, and Vho blinked back tears. :And we will not let him die.:  
  
*  
  
That night, as they entered an inn, Firesong pulled a small glass mirror out of his saddlebag. "Not that I have much use for it anymore," He said with unusual bitterness, "But it is good for scrying."  
  
:He was badly scarred when he tried to stop the mage storms,: Edern explained. :Before that he was inhumanly beautiful. Now he's - not. That's why he wears a mask all the time:Vho nodded. She had wondered, but accepted it as a personal idiosyncrasy.  
  
Firesong sat down gracefully in the room Elspeth had rented with her bottomless crown purse, and bent over the glass. Vho felt a steady building of power, which was suddenly released. A funny pull started, and Vho recognized it as a slight drain on her mage power. Vho looked inside herself, confused, and realised with a shock that her and Kalathan's mage-power, like their attitudes, were completely bonded, making a well of power common to both. Kalathan was taking steps to keep the scrying spell out.  
  
Firesong had evidently realised the same thing, because he sighed and straightened. "There are shields up, very formidable. I could try again, but I'd just exhaust myself. Vho took a sip from her water cup, and suddenly a thought came to her. She pulled out her eating knife and carefully cut her thumb, allowing a couple of drops of blood to fall in the water. She swirled it around and handed it to Firesong.  
  
"Try in this," she suggested to him. "The blood binds to me, and I can easily link you to him."  
  
Firesong looked surprised. "Interesting." was all he said, but his nod was thoughtful.  
  
This time, as Vho felt his magic building, she closed her eyes and sought that place which was more Kalathan than the rest of her. She could feel Edern's worry, and was herself slightly dismayed by the fact that Kalathan no longer felt separate from her.  
  
Then she could see through Kalathan's eyes, and only dimly heard Firesong's "Got it!" behind her.  
  
*  
  
Elspeth, Darkwind and Silverfox stared into the cup of water Firesong held. They, too, could see the image - such as it was. It seemed that they were looking out of someone else's eyes, and that someone was sitting on the ground, with his head balanced on his hands, elbows propped up on his knees.  
  
"Is that him?" Darkwind asked.  
  
Then Vho, still seated in her corner, murmured something. "Kalathan,"  
  
Firesong remained intent on the image, but the others all stared at her. At Firesong's exclamation, they quickly returned. Kalathan had leapt to his feet, and was gazing around a sqaure cave.  
  
"Where are you? Show yourself!" The voice was harsh and deep, and it seemed to issue from the cup. Silverfox quickly translated the Haighleigh language.  
  
"I'm not there, Kalathan." Vho replied. Elspeth, Darkwind and Silverfox seemed torn between watching the cup or watching Vho.  
  
"What do you want from me?" Kalathan demanded. "You tear up my faith, and now you molest me still!"  
  
"I tore up a misconception you made," Vho told him. "Nothing more."  
  
"They deserve to be punished!" Kalathan shouted.  
  
"Who?" Elspeth mouthed once Silverfox had translated. Darkwind shrugged.  
  
"Yes," admitted Vho. "But should you punish everyone? How many bandits were there?"  
  
"There were a hundred of them! Blasphemers, users of mind magic! My family didn't stand a chance."  
  
"And you have killed hundreds," Vho said sadly. "Most of them not even connected with your family." She used the lifebonding like a weapon, pushing her sense of injustice and distaste into him until it was his own.  
  
"Why are you doing this to me!" Kalathan almost wailed.  
  
"Because I must," Vho said.  
  
"I'm sorry," The image in the cup blurred with Kalathan's tears. "I'm sorry. . ."  
  
Vho didn't answer. She opened her eyes, and for one sickening moment saw two rooms at the same time. Then she broke free, and she was back in the inn.  
  
"Damn," said Firesong, as the image faded.  
  
Elspeth stared at Vho. "Care to explain?" She said dangerously.  
  
"No," she replied firmly. "The only reason I let you see that was to prove my point that he wasn't all bad."  
  
"Have you talked to him before?" Silverfox was asking now.  
  
"Yes," Vho said.  
  
"What did you tell him?" Elspeth said immediately.  
  
Vho rolled her eyes. She wished Elspeth wouldn't freak out like this. It was annoying. "Nothing," she said patiently. "I didn't tell him a n y t h i n g."  
  
"So," Firesong didn't even seem very tired by his exertions. "What are we going to do?"  
  
* * * * * *  
  
Next chapter you will find out exactly what they decide to do. Until then, I would like to say "Ner ner ner, I know and you don't! Ha!"  
  
Sorry. Sometimes that's just fun to do. 


	10. chapter 10

Chapter 10  
  
*  
  
Author's note: This story is getting very long . . . I don't really know much myself about what is going to happen, so please don't be irritated if I'm a bit vague.  
  
Thank you to all the nice people who reviewed my work. And thanks especially to Kirsty who listens to me talk (constantly) about my stories, and gives me advice without complaining (much).  
  
Oh, by the way, if you see a sentence with a little '-' at either side, -like this,- it means that Vho and Kalathan are talking. It isn't exactly mindspeech, but the whole 'joined mentality' thing means they can talk. I wasn't going to have any special symbol for it, but it all got so confusing . . .  
  
*  
  
Edern's reassurances comforted Vho as she listened to the others talking over and discarding plan after plan. It helped to know that the Companions were on her side, even if they wouldn't disclose that to their Heralds as yet. If they weren't helping her, she would be tempted to go warn Kalathan what was happening, and damn the consequences.  
  
The latest plan was basically a no-brainer. They would continue as they had been, and unmask the rest of the conspiring lords and arrest them. There was very little mention of what would happen to Kalathan, Vho noticed.  
  
She decided to raise that point, out of a perversity that was a side effect of the lifebonding Vho particularly enjoyed. "Ahem -" She started. The plotters turned to face her, irritated resignation filling their faces. Vho had already deflated several promising ideas. "What exactly happens to Kalathan in this plan?"  
  
Elspeth rolled her eyes. "By Valdemaran law he is a criminal," She said impatiently. "A criminal is less important in the scheme of things than getting rid of a dangerous ring of criminals."  
  
Vho smiled. "Finally, a straight answer!" She said, enjoying the astonished looks of her companions. Elspeth in particular seemed very suspicious of Vho's sudden capitulation, but appeared to accept it.  
  
-You're not going to let them kill me are you?-  
  
It was Kalathan's voice, a mixture of astonishment and fear. Vho blinked in silent surprise. Of course it had always been a possibility that Kalathan would learn how to use their unique lifebonding as easily as Vho did, but Vho hadn't expected this.  
  
-Don't worry,- She responded comfortingly, -They won't hurt you.-  
  
-Are - are you a God?-  
  
Vho nearly burst out laughing at Kalathan's worried question. -No,- She reassured him, still very much amused. -No, I'm not. But me, and all the other Heralds, are Chosen by messengers of the Gods.-  
  
-Messengers?- Kalathan was incredulous, but he seemed relieved that he was not facing a deity, only a fellow mortal. -Really?-  
  
-Well, sort of. The original King of Valdemar prayed to the Gods, and they sent him the Companions, the horse-creatures, to Choose good people to help him run the country.-  
  
-Oh,- Kalathan sounded nonplussed.  
  
Vho thought with some amusement that this was a strange conversation to be having with someone she'd never met, and someone who was technically her enemy.  
  
-Yes, it is, isn't it?- Kalathan agreed with her.  
  
-I don't think we have to be enemies,- Vho offered tentatively.  
  
-Good. I don't want to be your enemy.-  
  
*  
  
The next day, Vho told Kalathan that they were loriganaela.  
  
-That would explain a lot,- Kalathan said. Vho blinked. She hadn't expected him to take it at all well. -Why not?- There was amusement in his voice. -Anyway, a loriganaela couple shouldn't keep secrets.-  
  
-Particularly not that they are loriganaela.- Vho agreed. Then, because soon he would find out anyway if their mind meld continued, she opened her mind and let him see all the information about how their lifebonding was different.  
  
-That does, also, explain a lot,- Kalathan said after absorbing the information. After he felt Vho's astonishment at his easy acceptance, she felt it as the muscles in his face stretched into a grin. -It must be me getting your attitudes, passive girl,- he teased.  
  
"Vho," The girl startled, hearing a real voice instead of the mental rapport she was sharing with Kalathan. "Vho, I want to talk with you." It was Silverfox, pulling his dyheli even with Edern. Kalathan's confusion was one with her own. "You're rather quiet today. Are you angry because we are favouring Valdemar over your lifebonded?"  
  
-This guy doesn't have a clue,- Kalathan told her.  
  
-Shush.- "I'm fine."  
  
"It's just that you're so inward focused." Silverfox said. "You don't seem to pay any attention to anything we say. Is there anything wrong?"  
  
-What am I meant to say?- Vho asked with dismay.  
  
-You're on your own, sweetheart.- Kalathan responded with a mental laugh.  
  
:You could pretend that you were finding out more about the conspiracy of lords,: Edern told her. :Come to think, it's not a bad idea.:  
  
-Who?- Kalathan asked with surprise.  
  
-You explain- She told Edern, hoping he was still listening in and could explain for himself. Then she turned her attention back to Silverfox, trying to ignore the conversation going on in her head.  
  
"I've been spying on Kalathan," Vho lied. "I'm trying to get some more names for Elspeth."  
  
"Oh," Silverfox seemed rather abashed, and dropped back to ride with Firesong again. Vho rather theatrically closed her eyes.  
  
-That was entertaining,- Kalathan smirked.  
  
:Indeed.: Edern seemed to be getting along fine with Kalathan.  
  
-For verisimilitude, could you give me some names?- Vho asked. -Elspeth will bite my head off, else.-  
  
-Anything for a beautiful woman,- Kalathan told her mock-gallantly. To her intense pique, Vho found herself blushing.  
  
*  
  
"Lord Javer is the ringleader," Vho reported later. "He is an apprentice mage himself, and it was him who found and identified the mage after he saw the signs of a mage battle on a dead Herald."  
  
"Which one?" Elspeth asked curiously. The knowledge that Kalathan had killed one of the Heralds was obviously new to her.  
  
"Herald Debra," Vho said after a consultation with both Kalathan and Edern.  
  
"But she died in a landslide!" Elspeth objected. "About six months ago, in - oh," Elspeth's protest fell flat. "She was in the Comb . . ."  
  
"Indeed," Vho said. "Anyway, Javer is the Lord of Festrenne, a small holding up in the far North. All the Lordlings around there are slightly bitter at their lot. The land isn't much good for farming, and they don't have much money. And they can't afford enough fighters to get more, better land. So they thought they could assassinate the queen, the heirs and the council, and use mage controlled bandits to seize the throne. All they needed was a mage with a reason."  
  
"Who were the other lords?" Elspeth asked keenly.  
  
"There are seven of them as well as Lord Javer." Vho continued. "Nabol, Garold, Meron, Arfur, Pierce, Josten and Willem."  
  
Elspeth nodded after each name. "They are all minor nobles. Don't spend much time at court. Spend too much on their wardrobes and personal luxuries. All of them cheat on their wives - constantly and openly. No Heraldic connections." Elspeth saw Vho's stunned expression and smiled. "When I was the Heir, I had to memorize things like that."  
  
*  
  
The next day, Vho's group passed a destroyed village - one that Kalathan had 'punished for blasphemy'. Even after the Skybolts had cleaned up a little, it was horrendous.  
  
The village had been partially burnt down, but charred timbers still stuck up out of the ruins of houses, like spears clawing at the sky. In some more sheltered areas, the road was badly discoloured with reddish stains, and sticking out from under a pile of rocks and rubble stuck a human foot.  
  
Elspeth rode up to her, sadness in her eyes. "This is what Kalathan did," She said in regretful triumph. "These are the acts of the man you're protecting. He killed these people, destroyed this village."  
  
"Couldn't they have buried him?" Vho asked sickly, indicating the man in his crude rubble tomb.  
  
"They did," Elspeth said in a stony voice. She pointed out at the field, where row upon row of unmarked graves stood, the raw, clay soil showing up sharply against the stubbly, fallow, green grass. Vho wanted to be sick.  
  
-Oh, Gods,- Kalathan said weakly, sounding as ill as Vho felt. -Did I do all this?- Self hate and disgust filled his mind, and Vho felt an echo of it herself, though for different reasons.  
  
You allowed yourself to forgive the perpetrator of this? Vho asked herself in shock, knowing Kalathan could probably hear her and not caring. You allowed yourself to like him?  
  
:It wasn't Kalathan who did this, Vho.: Edern, too, seemed disgusted by the slaughter that had happened here. :Not really. Not any more. He is a totally different person now.:  
  
-I'll still have to remember it, though,- Kalathan said soberly. -It'll still be on my conscience.-  
  
:And that proves that you are different.:  
  
* * * * *  
  
'dulce et decorum est pro patria morai'  
  
For people who don't speak Latin, that means 'It is sweet and proper to die for one's country.' And no, that's not a hint of things to come. It's just fun to say. 


	11. chapter 11

Chapter 11  
  
*  
  
Author's Note: I'm going to get to the point now. And I'm going to tell you why Kalathan didn't just run off and join Vho and the others. (If you hadn't wondered, you should have.)  
  
Sorry it's taken a while to update; I gave up Diet Coke and chocolate for Lent, so I've been working through a fog of exhaustion (Not good writing conditions).  
  
And my friend Amarasaa says that I shouldn't obsess about reviews, but I do. Meh. (Okay, in case you didn't get the hint . . . Review review review!)  
  
*  
  
Lord Javer walked into the main cave, and leaned through the curtained archway that led into Kalathan's workroom. Kalathan immediately stood from his careless slouch on his cushioned pile.  
  
"Lord Javer," Kalathan said, in a careful mixture of arrogance, respect and surprise. "What brings you to my humble abode?"  
  
"I came to join you in a late supper," The foppish lord replied.  
  
Kalathan felt for Vho's mentality, and saw that she was asleep. He didn't need to wake her for this; he would give her a report in the morning.  
  
"Certainly, my Lord," Kalathan said easily, and led Javer to the varnished mahogany table. With a clap of his hands, several servants entered, carrying with them expensive food on silver plates.  
  
Javer sat down and began to eat the roast venison. "My spies have informed me that there is a party of mages coming in this direction. Their aim appears to be your demise." Kalathan jumped, and some of the wine sloshed from his cup. "Let me get you some more of that," Javer said affably, clicking his fingers. A servant walked mechanically over and filled the glass. Kalathan sipped it. "Now, I understand that the Lady Elspeth and Lord Darkwind are in that group. You can easily dispose of them with your mage-controlled troops -" Kalathan shifted uncomfortably. Even before meeting Vho, he had not liked the idea of completely controlling his soldiers and servants, and had merely placed 'encouragement' spells on them. "- but now would be a good time to send another assassin." Kalathan swore under his breath. Javer stared at him keenly. "You do not - wish - to send another assassin." He commented.  
  
Kalathan felt as though a tight band had slipped around his neck. "How did you - "  
  
"Know?" Javer smirked. "We do not entirely share your distaste for mind magic," He said. "There was an empath monitoring you at all times. Now, are you going to send an assassin?"  
  
"Never," Kalathan gasped. He could hardly breath.  
  
"How - unfortunate." Javer said with mock regret. "I suppose I shall have to force you."  
  
"With what?" Kalathan croaked, trying to smile. "Your magic?"  
  
Javer rose gracefully, and walked over to the collapsing Kalathan. Kneeling beside him, he drew his ornamental dagger, and cut the top of Kalathan's wrist, catching the blood in a crystal vial. Kalathan weakly tried to fight him off, but failed.  
  
"Blood," Javer said thoughtfully. "Isn't it wonderful? Blood is power, and blood links to blood . . . So what I have here, my dear mage, is a link to power - your power." Javer stood, and smirked down at the semi conscious Kalathan. "My magic might not be strong enough to work on you, Kalathan, but my drugs certainly do. And the best thing is," Javer's voice blurred as Kalathan sank deeper into darkness. "You won't even remember it in the morning . . ."  
  
*  
  
Kalathan was just finishing his breakfast when Javer walked in. Kalathan expertly covered his startlement with a dead-pan face.  
  
"Javer," he said flippantly. "What a pleasant surprise."  
  
Javer smirked as if at some unknown joke. "I'm sure," he said. "I'm going to need some of your power for that assassin we talked about."  
  
Kalathan's blood went cold. This was very, very, strange, and for some reason, he felt the unfamiliar chill of fear.  
  
"I'm not going to make an assassin for you," he said slowly.  
  
Javer smirked triumphantly. "Oh, but you are," he said. "Or - don't you remember?" The man took a vial from his pocket, a vial that shone red. Kalathan turned cold. "And this is how you're going to do it . . ."  
  
*  
  
Suddenly Vho felt a burning agony, and she let out a gasping cry of pain. Edern reared, neighing his protest as the sudden, unexpected pain reached him, too. And intermingled with the pain was a wash of conflicting emotions; rage, fear, confusion.  
  
-Vho!- It was Kalathan, and the burning, blinding agony that Vho felt, it came from him. -Javer! He has my blood! Stealing my magic! Is going to send a mage-assassin to the queen.- His thoughts, like her own, were disoriented and dizzy. -Doesn't know about you. Use the magic, all of it, and the queen will be safe!-  
  
Peripherally, Vho could hear Edern relaying this information to the others, but she ignored it, tapping the immense, immeasurable font of power that she and Kalathan shared. She could feel the alien drain - slow, but it would, eventually, take all the magic if Vho didn't make that impossible.  
  
She grabbed at the fiery light that filled her vision, feeling it come willingly to her call, and wastefully overflowing from her, with no purpose except to use it all.  
  
"No!" Someone protested from behind her. Dimly, through the blur of pain and magic, Vho recognized it as Firesong . "Uncontained magic goes wild! You can't spill it all! Just make it into a spell."  
  
As his words formed into comprehensible sentences inside Vho's throbbing head, she hastily aborted her reckless spill of magic. -Kalathan!- she called helplessly.  
  
-I'm here, I heard.- He told her. -Form a portal; that takes a lot of magic.-  
  
-But I don't know how!- She protested.  
  
-I'll help you,- He promised.  
  
With him guiding and her throwing the magic into the spell, the pair could circumnavigate the coercions placed on the helpless Kalathan. With them so tightly wound together, Vho could see through both their eyes, in nauseating double perspective.  
  
The gate was filling with the power Vho fed it, but the barrage of torturous pain still continued from the oblivious Javer. Vho didn't know what would happen to the gate when she finished; she just prayed that it ate enough power to thwart Javer's plan.  
  
The others gathered around Vho as the portal finished and opened its fiery maw. They gaped in astonishment as they saw it open into a semi-familiar cavern.  
  
The opening continued to drain the power from the still deep well of power. Vho knew without asking that neither she nor Kalathan had directed the gate; it seemed to have followed the bond between them, spanning the empty miles with perfect ease.  
  
*  
  
"What's happening?" Javer demanded shrilly when the fiery gateway unexpectedly opened in the cavern.  
  
Kalathan laughed, mockingly, through his pain. "We've beaten you, Javer," he taunted. "You will never get enough of our power to make a successful assassin now."  
  
"We?" repeated Javer. "You're lifebonded?"  
  
In a fit of absolute rage, Javer hurled the stolen magic back at Kalathan and Vho. It burnt through them, and they gave vent to simultaneous cries of agony.  
  
Suddenly, a blur of white flashed through the portal.  
  
*  
  
Elspeth watched helplessly as Vho tried desperately to save her mother. She could see the pain she had to fight against even as she created the Gate. She gaped open mouthed as the cavern appeared on the other side, and made no move towards it.  
  
However, suddenly Vho cried out, and a blur of white flashed through the Gate.  
  
*  
  
Kalathan stared slackly as the creature - Is that a Companion? He wondered, having seen them through Vho's eyes and in her thoughts as well as in his scrying crystal. - danced through the portal to stand protectively over his prostrate form.  
  
It - she - was followed through the portal by Elspeth and Gwena, then Darkwind, Silverfox and Firesong. Edern brought up the rear, carrying a semi conscious Vho on his back.  
  
Javer stared at the brigade of mages that had arrived so precipitously, and backed up a step or two. Then he seized a ball off stolen magic - Vho and Kalathan blanched, and the Portal collapsed behind them - and hurled it at them. Firesong flicked it aside contemptuously.  
  
"Is that the best you can do, Javer?" Elspeth asked scornfully. "I wonder how you managed to pose such a threat to my mother's rule."  
  
Now mad with terror and rage, Javer pulled the last of the magic from Vho and Edern and hurled it at Kalathan.  
  
The Companion mare's equine scream of rage echoed in the cavern as she somehow intercepted the glowing levin bolt, and she reared up onto her hind legs. She danced forward, and brought her silvery fore-hooves crashing down upon Javer's skull, which cracked like eggshell.  
  
Blood still wet on her hooves, she whirled and stared down at Kalathan. She nudged him gently with her velvet-soft nose, and her voice whispered gently in his mind.  
  
:Hello Kalathan,: Her mind voice soothed the raw pain of his overtaxed psyche. :I am Seliea, an I Choose you.:  
  
*  
  
And they all lived happily ever after.  
  
*  
  
The End!  
  
* * * *  
  
Last comments from the author: Sorry, I couldn't resist the facetious ending. And they did, as far as a pair of oddball Heralds can be permanently happy.  
  
I'm not going to continue this story, or make a sequel, because I would never be able to do what people wanted me to do with it. Use your imaginations.  
  
Read my other work as well if you liked this one. And while you're at it, review!  
  
Thank you! 


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